Gag Order On Kids?

Can a corporation imposed a lifetime gag order on kids, even though the kids aren't old enough to agree to something like that.

The Hallowich family. Even the kids
here are subject to a gag order after
a lawsuit. Can the lawyers do that?  

Apparently, they can. 

Some landowners have sued gas companies over fracking, that practice of injected mass quantities of water and some chemicals to extract oil or gas from the shale or rocks way underground. The practice is controversial, as you have probably seen on the news.

In Pennsylvania, Chris and Stephanie Hallowich settled for $750,000 with gas and oil companies over problems related to fracking on and near their property.

Part of the settlement includes a provision that the couple not discuss the case or publicly disparage the oil and gas companies.

Those provisions are common in lawsuits, though I don't like such gag orders. If there are problems related to fracking, or anything else for that matter, the public doesn't know if there is a gag order,  and the offenders can say to investigators that there are no reports of problem. No public reports, at least. So things get covered up.

But that's not my big concern here. According to several published reports the Hallowich's kids, ages 7 and 10, are also subject to the gag order.  For the rest of their lives, they can't talk about this at all. This opens up a new front in corporate secrecy, which to me is scary.

According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

"Several independent legal scholars and attorneys involved in the Hallowich side of the case say they know of no other settlement agreements that gag the children of parents involved in legal settlements, and questioned whether such an agreement is enforceable."

Well, duh!  Kids 10 and under aren't exactly considered competent to sign adult contractual agreements, so how are they subject to gag orders like this?

And as Chris Hallowich noted in the court transcripts, what if one of the kids utters a "forbidden word" on the playground?

It's unclear what the forbidden words even are. The Post Gazette had to fight for the court transcript, which is normally a public record. And they didn't get the settlement agreement, and I think those are supposed to be public, too.

But during the settlement hearing, it was clear the lawyers wanted to shut the children up, according to the Post Gazette. One lawyer for a gas company said, "I guess our position is it does apply to the whole family. We would certainly enforce it."

Some of the parties to the lawsuit, maybe inspired by the potential for negative press, are backing off the claim that the gag order applies to the kids.

Let's hope so. I mean, what are you going to do? Throw a 12 year old in jail or sue him for a million dollars for saying on a playground, "Friggin' fracking!"

And what if these agreements become commonplace? What if there is a whole host of things kids are barred from talking about?

I hope there is an appeal to this case. It needs to be made clear that we can't impose legal contracts on kids without their consent.

Really, this is almost child abuse, if you ask me.

More Garden Beauty

Every summer, my flower gardens in St. Albans, Vermont get better and better.

They are not anywhere near where I want them to be yet, but it's getting there, slowly but surely. Here are a few photos to show what I've been enjoying.

The sun glows through a day lily  

Day lillies compete with wildflowers
at the edge of my property.  

A riot of color in front of my house.  

Man Does Amazing Stuff With Soccer Ball

Get your head out of the gutter. After reading the headline to this post, you think I'm going to write about something icky.

But please watch the G-rated video, below, of a guy named Andrew Henderson playing around with a soccer ball. (OK, football if you want to get all British about it)   The guy is amazing. Maybe I should practice like Henderson and make this my new career? Nah. I'll do something else. But I'll still marvel at Henderson.

Watch:

Another Anthony Weiner Scandal. No, Not THAT Anthony Weiner.

What is it about people named Anthony Weiner having issues with sexting scandals?

We all know the Anthony Weiner who is the New York mayoral candidate who keeps getting in trouble for sexting, sending women pictures of his junk. We all agree that's pretty icky.

New York's Anthony Weiner can take
comfort of sorts knowing there's an
Anthony Weiner out there weirder than him.  

Now, the New York Daily News brings us an update on another Anthony Weiner, this one from Revere Massachusetts, who, if accusations are true, really out Weinered the more famous Weiner.

According to the Daily News:

"This Anthony Weiner, 25, of Revere, Mass. used his wife's phone to send a text luring the 21-year-old Winthrop man to another house in Revere. Once there, the guest was greeted witha  bat to the head.

Prosecutors said Weiner tied the man to a chair threatened him with a power tool and a BB gun, and only released him when the terrified vicim began vomiting."

Yikes! It's unclear from the report what led the Revere Weiner to do all this.

I'm sure his wife is impressed. She probably even bought a new phone. I wouldn't want to touch it after what Revere Weiner did.

I think Revere Weiner's marriage was rocky to begin with. The Daily News reported that he punched his mother-in-law during a brawl on his wedding day.

Maybe it's best that people looking for a date avoid anyone named Anthony Weiner.

Bear Steals Big Trash Dumpster From Restaurant: Even Animals Are Criminals Now

This blog seems to have gotten into a bit of an animal theme lately, but what the heck.  Today, we have surveillance video of a thief. Namely a bear, who decides to lift a trash bin from the alley behind a restaurant.

Don't believe me? Watch the video, then more details about what happened below the video:




According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, this bear likes German food, as the trash bin theft happened at the Edelweiss Restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said the delightfully named restaurant manager Dieter Schnakenberg,

The bear rolled the trash bin out into the front parking lot, tipped it over, and had his snack. The very next night, he returned to the restaurant and stole another trash bin, Schnakenberg said.

Since then, the restaurant, after consulting with Colorado fish and wildlife officials, took steps so bears cannot steal more bins.

Great. Now the bears will probably shoot out the restaurant windows in a drive by shooting and just raid the kitchen.

"Spin Sister Dogs" Dancing For Dinner Are A Huge Day Brightener

Via Gawker, I found a video that is guaranteed to give anyone a much needed smile. It sure helped me mood.

A still from the wonderful Hope and Rosey
dinnertime video  

In the video, we meet Hope and Rosey, two sisters, both English Springers, who have been happily taught their routine when they get dinner, do their thing.

They dance as their human companion sings their dinner hour song in the most hearty, happy voice you can imagine.

It's a beautiful video, trust me.

The video appeared on Reddit under the headline about the dog's owner which reads, "It's impossible to imagine that this man ever has a bad day," which is about as true a statement as "The sky is blue."

Under the Reddit headline, somebody wrote "This type of happiness only comes from keeping such awesome dogs."

Followed by this comment: "The dogs are probably awesome because of his disposition."

Also true. I think that works with people, too. People who are around others that exude happiness get happy too. It's something that is always worth reminding myself.

OK, I've prattled on. You want to see the video. So do I, again. So here it is:

Major Transition: I'm No Longer A Reporter At the Burlington Free Press

The inevitable happened today.

I was laid off from my job as a reporter at the Burlington Free Press in Burlington, Vermont.

I say it was inevitable because the newspaper industry is struggling, and newspapers have been shedding jobs for years.

This is only the latest round of industry layoffs. At last check, at least 170 people had lost their jobs this week at Gannett, the owner of the Burlington Free Press and numerous other papers and media outlets.

From what I understand, I was among 13 people to lose their jobs at the Free Press. I guess it was my turn to face the axe.

Of course, I should have been preparing for this, saving more money than I have been, updating my resume more than I have, but you always hope against hope it doesn't happen to you. Subconsciously, probably, I didn't do more to prepare because I didn't want to jinx the gig.

Which makes no sense, of course, but brains are funny things. Brains like mine are an endless well of odd thoughts and superstitions. Even if I am rational most of the time. Go figure.

I'll be OK, of course. I'm still sorting things out today, so I haven't really formulated a real plan. This just happened a few hours ago, for Chrissakes!

It was a weird moment when Executive Editor Michael Townsend  brought me into an office and let me know what was going on.  Yes, I was the one being let go, but I didn't envy Townsend. He's had to lay off people before, and I know how much he hates to do that.  I hope today was the last time he'll have to break such news to his employees.

A human resources specialist from Rochester, N.Y. was in there to go over how to apply for unemployment, deal with disentangling myself from Gannett and move on.  

The HR lady -- she told me her name, but I was a bit distracted by the situation and it didn't register -- was polite in an efficient sort of way. You could tell she's done this many times before. Which is in itself sad. I wonder if having to do that to people getting laid off makes her sad. I kind of felt bad for her.

As for myself, I knew immediately the worst thing I could do is get all emotional.   It's funny, when a minor bad thing happens to me, like I stub my toe or spill my Diet Coke, I have to contain a certain amount of frustration.

When a bigger bad thing happens, like when I got run over by a semi-truck, or our dog Bailey died, or when I got laid off from the Free Press today, I stayed calm and collected.

Of course, getting laid off from the Free Press might not necessarily be a bad thing, at least not a bad thing like getting run over by a semi or having a beloved dog die.

Unlike the other two scenarios, there's plenty I can do about the situation. Look for another job, of course. I'm faced with a clean slate, which is simultaneously scary and thrilling.

I know there's not a  zillion jobs out there and employers won't necessarily be beating down  my door to hire me.  But, having been a journalist for so long means I certainly know how to communicate, which for almost any job is half the battle.

I can also sit back and think about what other interests I have besides journalism. Is there something else that has been bubbling in the back of my weird brain, waiting to come out as a vocation? Now's the time to consider it.

The only thing I'm truly upset about is the effect my layoff has on other people. My husband Jeff is already talking about cutting back on things. I can tell he's worried about it, though he says his main worry is my well being.

I believe him, of course, but I do want to fix things so he doesn't feel like he has to worry. Why should my situation drag him down?

I worry about Barb, the wonderful lady that takes care of our Jackson the Cocker Spaniel.  We'll have to bring Jackson less often there, to save money for now.

So, I'll spend the next several days figuring things out. Luckily, I'm resilient enough so that I'm not angry, depressed, or overwhelmingly scared. Those negative emotions are understandable, but they paralyze you, get in the way of moving on, and prevent one from continuing life's journey.

Life's journey is too much fun to abandon, so believe me, I'm staying in the game more so than ever before.

I'll land squarely on my feet. I just don't know where yet. Wherever I do land, it will be surprising and cool and different and refreshing.

I feel it in my bones.